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Judy Blume Read Along

Judy Blume is going to be at YALC this year. I can’t believe
I’ve actually typed that sentence. GODDESS JUDY BLUME WILL BE AT YALC AND SO
WILL I. I’m quite excited. When I was not quite a teenager, there was not a
whole heap of Teen/YA books waiting on the shelves of bookshops and libraries
to help us navigate the trials and pitfalls of growing up. But there was Judy
Blume, and thank all that is good for her and her books full of normal everyday
girls living with their normal everyday families and having normal everyday
worries. These were characters it was easy to relate to and understand, and the
stories were cunningly packed with advice that we could take and use. And the
stories themselves were brilliant.

That’s how I remember Judy Blume, but I admit that the
amount of time that’s elapsed since I read them can be measured not only in
years but in decades. Keris Stainton’s idea of a Judy Blume read along leading
up to YALC had me hopping with excitement; I have a burning desire to reconnect
with books that were so important to me, and possibly to read some I missed the
first time around. Six weeks, six books (you can find the whole schedule and
more here at Keris’ blog).

Last week was the first week, and fittingly the read-along
started with probably Judy’s most famous book, Forever. It truly is the ‘classic novel of first love, first sex
and first heartbreak’ as proclaimed on the back of the book. It also accounts
for the fact that very many girls and women are unable to hear the name Ralph
without sniggering. Reading Forever
was a rite of passage. I read it hidden away inside another book, sitting on my
Pierrot beanbag in the corner of my room, hoping my nan wouldn’t ask what I was
reading. (I can’t remember now why my nan was there at the time). It had a
reputation for being something you didn’t show your parents, and I recall being
quite wide-eyed at all the sex stuff. But what I remembered most was the loving
relationship between Michael and Katherine.

Re-reading it has been a brilliant experience. The
relationship still comes across as strong and supportive, although Michael is
not so smooth as I remember him! Katherine is even more wonderful though, and
her mature approach to sex is something to celebrate. The writing is so
straightforward and clear, that even moments of embarrassment are handled as a
normal part of physical relationship. Periods, contraception, premature
ejaculation, how unsatisfying sex can be, and how good it feels to orgasm are
all dealt with in a positive and reassuring way. It also shows that STIs and
pregnancy can be the unintended result of sex and that being responsible for
your own sexual health is the only way. It’s also warm and gently funny. I love
this book.

I’m going to press this book into the hands of my eldest
niece, tell her that she doesn’t need to keep it hidden, and if she has any
questions she’s too embarrassed to ask her (totally cool) mum then I’m here for
her. And if I don’t know the answer, I’ll ask Judy Blume.

This week’s book is Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret. I’m
hoping I enjoy it even a fraction of how much I did last time I read it. Join
in. There’s even a special hashtag on Twitter – #readalongralph – well, we can’t be
grown up all the time.

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Am all for the realism in this book and I was surprised at how well it has aged - apart from a few 70s references, the tone and content didn't feel dated at all. And I share your feelings about Michael!

The story of Lizzie Borden has a whiff of folklore about it, it feels hazy to me, apocryphal perhaps, something half known and uncertain like Washington and the cherry tree or the ride of Paul Revere. Shamefully, I had to Google both the latter two examples to double check they were the events I thought I was referring to. I choose them deliberately though - is it my Englishness that makes these events fuzzy to me? Do these stories live in the American psyche the way Magna Carta, Henry VIII and his six wives, and Jack the Ripper (to select three almost at random) live in mine?
I remember a book we stocked when I was a very young bookseller at Waterstones in Watford that looked at the psychology of children who murder their parents. The copy on the back of the book talked of Lizzie Borden. I remember half wondering about the case, then shelving the book away and moving onto the next armful. But it stuck in my m…

My nieces and nephews and I have a monthly book club, called Book Chase (although it sometimes gains an extra 's' to become Book Chasse). The rules are simple: we all bring something we've read during the last month, talk about it to each other, and eat snacks. We live tweet each meeting with the hashtag BookChase. Sometimes, when we remember, we Storify all the tweets too. This month, we remembered!